Standard Headunit Makes Me Cry.

[rlm]

I have a T-Sport and the stock head unit is pretty awful for my uses, I listen to a lot of rock and metal and at any kind of volume I just want to stab myself with a blunt pitchfork, so I have decided to buy some new stuff.

I'm looking to buy a new Alpine head unit, but as part of this purchase I will also be looking to buy some decent Speakers. (Total budget will be £500 ish, more if needed) Am I right in assuming that the standard Speakers in the doors are 13cm? Also I would like to know what Speakers they are on the dash, are they tweeters or are they very small speakers? Thirdly I would like some additional speakers, for the rear of the car but do not want to use up the parcel shelf, what are my options? Can they be put in the back doors? Or anywhere else, I'm open to suggestions. If I was to add rear speakers how would I go about wiring them to the new head unit, I assume this wouldn't need an amp with the alpine.

If need be I can go for the parcel shelf route, just not a great fan of it myself.

Thanks

[armoredfist2002]

Door Speakers are 16.5 cm (I think), you can use 13cm, I think there is an adaptor or you can make one yourself, out of thin MDF (I used laminate flooring).

The dash Speakers are 10cm.

To wire up rear Speakers and to fit your head unit you will require the audioleads adaptor, you can split the wires up to add another 2 for the rear, and a new parcel shelf would be better, as there's not many places you can put the speakers otherwise

[chrisb]

Have a butchers at this!

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...topic=28967&hl=

CB

[rlm]

So can I run all 3 sets of Speakers off the Alpine head unit then if I was to get a set for the parcel shelf. And also is it possible to get a set for the shelf that are easy to disconnect, so that if I need to put something in the boot then I can? Also if I was to disconnect these and put something in the boot then would I be unable to use the radio? Cheers.

[Ryan1985]

You could probably get some kind of block connector that goes in the middle of the wires so you can disconnect the rear Speakers and therefore remove the parcel with ease whenever you want. I'm pretty sure the radio would still work but you'd just have no rear Speakers in.

[rlm]

Thanks very much, I seem to understand it all now. Just one more question, If I was to buy a decent set of 10" and 13" Speakers (16.5 seem non-standard) would I really need some 6x9's for decent sound? Surely I could get away with these. My budget should cover a decent set quite easily I would have thought.

How easy is it to replace the dash ones?

Make that 2 more questions.... :P

Thanks everyone.

[RossP]

Dash Speakers are a 3 minute job

unscrew old ones, cut wires, connect to new Speakers, screw new Speakers in

[rlm]

Dash speakers are a 3 minute job

unscrew old ones, cut wires, connect to new speakers, screw new speakers in

←

So the dash itself doesn't need to be removed or anything? Good, I'll change both and add some tweaters too.

[RossP]

nah, where the speaker grill is get a flat head screw driver and pop it up. you'll then see the speaker, just follow my steps (although check which wires are positive and negative before wiring back up) and you can't really go wrong

[rlm]

Thanks very much, seems like a job even I can do, need to get my confidence up on cars really. Give me a PC and I can do almost anything, cars I've always given a wide birth to though.

Now wheres my screw driver.

Just one more question before I'm hated forever, will 17cm Speakers fit in the doors rather than 13's, just so I know what to buy.

[RossP]

think it's 16.5cm that will fit, but i could be wrong

[rlm]

bah, why do they have to use such a non-standard size. Cheers.

[RossP]

Turns out that it's actually 6.5"... so 17cm shouldn't be a problem

[rlm]

Thats made me very happy. Thanks very much your your help, I'll be sure to post pictures of the install etc, and will let you know how much better it sounds after this upgrade. Right then, when do I get paid.

[ferrariboyuk]

I listen to rock and metal myself in a T sport. Sounds ok to me and i dont feel like stabbing myself :D

I was going to get 6x9's though - Alpine SPE-6903. But i couldn't be ar5ed.

DOM

[rlm]

I went to Halfords earlier today to have a bit of a play around and listen. There were various sets of Infinity, Sony, Focal and Alpine Speakers. After trying each set I found that the top set of Alpines they had there were the best sounding, these were priced at £99 quid, however checking when I got back on the net shows I can get them for £45. I also tried some 10cm Speakers for the dash, which were quite good for definition but little else at that size. I assume having some 10cm Speakers, most of which seem to be limited to 20 watts rms would effect the maximum volume I could have my car radio at, for example if the head unit was capable of 40 watts and the 17cm's were too if I was to turn it up that loud then I would blow the 10cm ones? It also seems to me that 6"x9" lack so much definition and so I think I will avoid them.

So my thoughts are:

buy one of these

Alpine CDA-9812RB

With preferably the following speakers:

Alpine SPR-17LS components

and just not bother with another set of speakers for now, I could just put the tweaters in the dash (how hard is this? and where can I put the crossover).

Alternatively:

Alpine SPR-17LP speakers

and a set of 10"

Infinity Reference 4012i

I prefer the second choice for ease of installation, would anyone else choose a different head unit?

[knightrider]

excellent choice of headunit, and TBH unless you spend a fortune on components there not worth the farting around most coaxial Speakers are plenty good enough these days if you running off your headunit

PS ill buy your standard cd player :P